Essendon star Jake Stringer has spectacularly revealed that he’d not learnt how to do long-distance running prior to doing so before his breakout 2021 season.
After coming into the year under pressure, Stringer was one of the key components behind Essendon’s unexpected rise into the top eight.
The 27-year-old averaged a career-high 16.4 disposals per game to go along with 41 goals, with his 2.2 goals per game average his highest since his All-Australian season in 2015.
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Stringer had been challenged to get in better shape by Essendon assistant Blake Caracella, and came into the season in outstanding fitness after losing seven kilos.
While he was harshly denied an All-Australian jacket, Stringer secured a top-five finish in Essendon’s best and fairest and was rewarded with a three-year contract extension.
After his outstanding season, Stringer revealed the training secret behind his dramatic weight loss, explaining that he’d never been a long-distance runner in the past despite almost a decade in the AFL system.
“It was more just get out and pound the pavement and learn how to (run long distances). Because before I probably hadn’t ran over two kilometres straight in eight years,” he told the How They Train podcast.
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“You’d go for a run and do a one kilometre warm-up and then we’d do 200 metres to 400 metres. We’re not going just to do a five kilometre jog, well at least I wasn’t.”
A syndesmosis injury robbed Stringer of the majority of his 2020 season, with his 10-game output his lowest since his debut season in 2013.
While he was able to return for the back end of that season, Stringer was a shell of his game-breaking self. A lack of fitness meant Stringer was confined to the forward line for large stretches of matches and he was held under 10 disposals in five out of six games to finish the season as the club sunk to a disappointing 13th-placed finish.
It was then that a shift occurred in his mindset.
“That’s when it started for me, the mindset shift of being like, ‘you need to change the way you do everything’,” he said.
“We did that for the first three or four weeks until I could start to get a bit more movement into my ankle. Then we were doing anywhere from four-to-five kilometre runs to big runs where it was like 10 kilometres.
“I really enjoyed it, I learned to like running, whereas I used to hate running with a passion. I was running probably every second day, if not every day.”
Much like his club, Stringer is hoping to build off a promising 2021 season and has once again looked in fine shape during this off-season.
While the 157-game veteran was on light duties this week due to a minor groin complaint, he is expected to resume full training in the coming days.